Sundance Channel has unveiled its 2013-2014 original scripted development slate, which includes five drama projects: Valentines from producer Robert Redford and writer Olaf Olafsson, Behind The Sun from producers Steve Buscemi and Stanley Tucci and writer Dylan Gary, The Descendants (no relation to the 2011 movie) from producer Sarah Condon and writer Aaron Guzikowski, T from producer Ira Glass and writers Dan Futterman and Anya Epstein, and Death In The Modern Age from producers Bob Cooper, JJ Jamieson and Michael Fuchs and writers Josh Shaffer & Eli Kooris.

Sundance Channel’s first wholly owned scripted drama, Rectify, is slated to premiere next year. The channel’s scripted efforts to date have been in the limited series/mini-series area through co-productions and acquisitions. They include miniseries Carlos, Appropriate Adult and the upcoming Restless. Here are details about the projects on Sundance’s drama development slate:

Valentines
Based on the novel by Olaf Olafsson, Valentines is a white-knuckled emotional journey, capturing the most candid of moments between lovers when unspoken truths and long buried secrets surge to the surface and everything changes in an instant. The story follows Herman Peterson – a high-powered New York attorney, and his three attractive daughters – Cathryn, Margaret, and Soley – as we delve into their upscale homes, cosmopolitan social circles, and volatile personal relationships to discover that not all is what it seems.Writer: Olaf Olafsson (novels including, The Journey Home and Absolution)Producers: Sundance Productions (Robert Redford & Laura Michalchyshyn), Fred Berner

Behind the Sun
A wildly distinct coming-of-age tale set in the surfer paradise of Malibu, CA during the mid-1980s that follows the growing pains of the Georges – a determined, single child family whose lives begin to unravel after teenage son Farron learns he has an incredibly rare allergy to the sun. The series explores the shifting notions of parenting, and how the delayed adolescence and personal ambitions of the adults within this world are throwing their children into psychological and physical jeopardy.Writer: Dylan Gary (Tell Me You Love Me)Producers: Olive Productions (Stanley Tucci, Steve Buscemi, Wren Arthur)

The Descendants
A hard-hitting drama that revolves around a sheriff struggling to keep his family together while simultaneously policing two clashing communities: the small town where he grew up and the neighboring Ramapo Mountains, home of the Ramapo Mountain Indians. After a terrible tragedy and coverup occurs involving the sheriff’s wife, an unholy alliance is forged between the sheriff and a dangerous member of the tribe that will come back to haunt all involved.Writer: Aaron Guzikowksi (Contraband, Prisoners) Producer: Sarah Condon (Bored to Death)

T
A deeply personal look at Terrence, a transgender male who has recently undergone gender reassignment surgery and is beginning to live life as a man. Series cuts between Terrence’s emotional struggle in the present and his past as Thora – a lesbian, student activist at Mt. Holyoke College circa 2005 struggling to find her true self.Writer: Anya Epstein (In Treatment) and Dan Futterman (In Treatment, Capote) Producers: Ira Glass & Alissa Shipp (This American Life)

Death In The Modern Age
After his personal and professional lives implode in spectacular fashion, a down-on-his-luck suburbanite who has always played by the rules decides to radically reinvent himself by plotting to fake his own death in order to start life anew. In today’s age of DNA testing, digital footprints, and lack of individual anonymity, his escape and ultimate transformation prove to be much easier said than done.Writers: Josh Shaffer & Eli Kooris Producers: Landscape Entertainment (Bob Cooper, JJ Jamieson), Michel Fuchs